Foldable display box



April 20, 1954 Filed Aug. 11. 1953 w. E. HANSON FOLDABLE DISPLAY BOX 4 Sheets-Sheet l I E I (Z5 l V I -4 fix, {Id I I Z/ I y I .9 M 117 2 i INVEN TOR. fifzZ/ace Z: 1701730111,, BY 64%; #M

April 20, 1954 w. E. HANSON 2,675,913

FOLDABLE DISPLAY BOX Filed Aug. 11. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet I) I L INVENTOR,

561/466 1 Abram,

BY wavw.

Patented Apr. 20, 1954 2,675,913 FOLDABLE DISPLAY BOX Wallace E. Hanson, Springfield, Mass, assignor to Sample-Durick Company,

Incorporated,

Chicopee, Mass, a corporation of New York Application August 11, 1953, Serial No. 373,543

. 4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in foldable display boxes, such as those which are commonly made of cardboard or the like and are adapted to be collapsed for shipment or expanded and packed with articles and subsequently used to display such articles.

The invention has for an object the provision of a box in the common form of a right-angular parallelepipedon but having provisions in its side, front and back walls, between the top and bottom of the box, to enable the latter to be easily severed along predetermined lines and separated into two sections which however are permanently interconnected by flaps that are out from the back wall of the box. This construction enables the top section of the box to be lifted from the bottom section, uncovering the articles contained in the latter, and then inverted after'which the bottom section is partially inserted into the inverted top section and held by the latter in tilted position to display the articles.

The invention will be disclosed with reference to the oneillustrative embodiment of it shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a front view of the box when in collapsed form;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the box when in collapsed form;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view of the b whenin expanded form;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the expanded box;

Fig. 5'is aside elevational view showing the top section of the box inverted and moved behind the bottom section in position to receive the bottom section; I

Fig. 6 is a side elevational View showing the bottom box section inserted in the top box section and held thereby in tilted position to display the articles contained therein; and

Fig. '7 is a sectional elevational view of the box sections when in display position.

. Referring to these drawings; the box is made up from a single blank of cardboard or the like. It is shown as collapsed in Figs. 1 and 2, being the form in which the boxes are shipped to a manufacturer; as expanded and filled with articles in Figs. 3 and 4, being the form in which the box is shipped to a dealer; and as divided into two interfitting sections, in Figs. 6 and 7, being the form in which the box is used by a dealer to display the articlescontained therein.

The box, when expanded, as shownin Figs. 3

and 4, has the shape of a right-angular paral- 2 lelepipedon with parallel side walls I and 2, parallel front and back walls 3 and 4 respectively, disposed at right angles to walls I and 2, and parallel top and bottom closures 5 and 6, respectively, disposed at right angles to the side, front and back walls. This box (Fig. 4) is readily severable into two sections A and B, which are foldably connected by flaps as will be later described, so that they may be relatively moved into the interiitting relationship shown in Fig. 6 in order to display the goods. The severance is elfected through the side walls I and 2 along lines of cuts 1, which extend from two opposite points 8 located high up and one in each of F the rear edges of each side wall to two opposite points 3 located low down and one in each of the front edges of each side wall, and through the front wall 3 along a cut I0 which extends across from one point 9 to the other. The back wall 4 (Fig. 3) is partially severed from the adjacent side walls I and 2 along cuts l l which extend from opposite high points [2, one along each side edge, to opposite low points l3. The points ii are located higher than the points 8 and the points I3 are located lower than the points 9. These cuts ll free a portion of the back wall intermediate its upper and lower ends in order to form flaps for connecting the two box sections A and B together but with freedom for the relative movements desired.

Thus, the back 4 is divided into upper and lower sections l4 and 15, respectively, which interconnect the side walls 1 and 2, and intervening, flap-forming portions I9 and 2!], which are free from the side walls and are respectively connected by lines of fold it and H with the sections ligand I5. The portions l9 and 20 are hingedly connected by a line of fold l8. These iiaps I9 and 2e interconnect the two box sections A and B in a manner such as to enable the boxes to be moved into the desired relation for display of the articles contained therein. The section 20 is equal in height to the section l5. The height of section I9 is less than the width of either side wall I or 2. The two box sections A and Bare held together during packing and shipment in any suitable way, which will allow the sections A and B to be easily separated when desired. One simple and suitable way is to leave small uncut portions 2 I, called ties, along the lines of severance I. These ties may readily be broken, when required, by inward pressure on the side wall on one side of the line of severance adjacent each tie 2|.

When the dealer wishes to display the articles contained in the box, he breaks the ties 2|, as described, and then swings the top section B clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 4, until it is inverted and rests on the top closure 5 as a base, located in the same horizontal plane as the base-forming bottom closure 6 of section A, but behind the latter as shown in Fig. 5. This uncovers the articles 22 contained in the box. These articles remain in section A, projecting above the front, side and back walls thereof, in position for display. The described swinging movement occurs initially along the hinge line H and finally along the hinge line 16. The next step is to lift the box section A and swing it in a clockwise direction until substantial parts of its back and base fit into the inverted section B, in. the manner shown in Fig. 6. In this swinging movement, bending occurs along the hinge lines 16, I8 and I! but in a direction opposite to that in which bending occurred when the box sections were moved from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 5. The uppermost corners of the side walls 1 and 2 of section A (Figs. 6 and 7) will engage the back wall 3 of section B but, since the fiap i9 is of less length than the width of the sides I and 2 of section B, it will limit the degree to which the lower-part of section A can be thrust into section B and thereby cause the section A to be tilted as shown with its bottom 6- supported on top of wall [4 and its front portion located forwardly of the latter. The articles 22, indicated by dotted lines, remain in section A during the described movements of the two box sections A and B- and, during such movements, the section A need never to be positioned so that the articles 22 can fall out of it.

The end closures 5 and 6 of the box may be of any suitable kind. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the front and back walls 3 and 4 have flaps 23 and 24', respectively, foldably connected to their upper edges. The side walls I and 2 have flaps 25 and 25, respectively, foldably connected to their upper edges; The flap 25 has tongues 21 and the flap 26 has slits 28 to receive the tongues.

When the box is expanded, the flaps 23 and 24. are folded inwardly, then flap 26 is folded downupon them and finally flap 25 is folded down onflap 26 and its tongues 21 passed one into each of the slits 28 to hold the flaps 2-6 and 21 together andcomplete the end. closure.

The bottom closure 6 may be, and is, as herein shown, constructed in the same way as the topv closure 5.

The form of the blank from. which the described box is constructed will be clear from Figs. 1 and 2. In these views the side walls I. and 2 are superposed and the front and back walls 3 and 4 are superposed. The side walls I and 2 are hingedly connected to rear wall section- 14 along fold lines 29 and 30, respectively, and to the rear wall section [5 along lines 31 and 32 respectively. Side wall I is hingedly connected to front wall 3 along fold line 33. The side 2 has a hinged flap 3-4 which is suitably secured, for example, adhesively to the inner face of the. front wall 3.

The invention thus provides a box, in which articles may be shipped and which may subsequently be severed along predetermined lines into top and bottom sections that are permanently connected by two hinged flaps cut from, and hingedly connected with, the back wall of the box, such flaps permitting relative movement of the two box sections, when severed one from the other, whereby the top section may be inverted to act as a tray and the bottom section, containing the articles, may be inserted into the inverted tray-forming top section in inclined position to display the articles contained therein.

What is claimed is:

1. A display box, having front, back, side, top and bottom walls connected to form a rightangular parallelepipedon, said back wall from a location near but spaced below its top wall to a location near but spaced above its bottom wall being cut from the adjacent edges of the side walls and sub-divided into a relatively long and a relatively short flap hingedly connected together and respectively hingedly connected to the upper and lower portions of the back wall, saidside walls being out along predetermined lines extending one from each of two opposite points in the rear edges of the side walls near the upper hinge connection of said long fiap to two opposite points in the front edges of the side walls near the lower hinge connection of said short flap and said front wall being out along a line interconnecting the last-named two opposite points, said cuts enabling the box to be easily severed along such lines and separated into top and bottom sections permanently and hingedly connected by said long and short flaps, said top section when separated from. the bottom section being invertible to rest on said top wall as a base and said bottom section being partially insertable. into the inverted bottom section in tilted relation therewith to display the contents of the box.

2. A display box, as claimed in claim 1, in which said long flap has a length less than the width of a side section to limit the extent to which the lower portion of the bottom section can be inserted into the inverted top section and to cause the bottom section to tilt rearwardly under the weight of the contents of the box.

3. A display box, as claimed in claim 1, in which the uppermost hinge connection of said long flap is spaced above said two opposite points on the rear edges of said side walls.

4. A display box; as claimed in claim 1, in which the length of said short flap equals the distance between the lowermost hinge connection of said flap and the bottom Wall of the box.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,361,631 Singer et al Dec. 7., 1920 1,403,869 Reid Jan. 1'1, 1922 1,942,537 Coleman Jan. 9, 1934 

